About.com Attempting to Court Canadian Users with Acquisition of Aboot.ca
In an effort to bolster their Canadian traffic, About.com announced today that they have acquired the Canadian domain Aboot.ca. The domain, which is a play on Canadians’ tendency to unconsciously pronounce “about” as “aboot”, was purchased by the New York based company for an astounding $30 million and was previously home to a Neil Peart tribute site run by a Canadian teenager.
According to Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr., who is the Chairman of The New York Times Company, About.com’s parent company, the acquisition was made as part of an aggressive campaign to drastically increase its Canadian traffic. Sulzberg was on record as saying, “We think the purchase of Aboot.ca is going to be very special for us. We traditionally haven’t done well in Canada, but buying this domain and making sure its equipped to readily track down Rush lyrics, hockey stats, and home grown marijuana guides, should give us the marked improvement we’re looking for.”
They will indeed have their work cut out for them, as early surveys have shown that many Canadians feel the domain is a slight against them and mocks them for their phonetic differences. According to one survey completed by a 25 year old Edmonton man, “The Americans should learn to understand that they don’t need to do us any favors. We have internet, computers and geeks, to match ‘em, and frankly, I’ve never had any problem finding grizzly bear porn or the nearest Tim Horton’s location using Alta Vista.”
Sulzberger says Aboot.ca was completely, 100% NOT purchased to slight our good neighbors to the North. “Think of Aboot.ca as olive branch, nay, maple leaf branch that extends across the border and helps Canadians find information in a more efficient and timely manner. When the good people of Canada need to find out why Pat Verbeek’s stick blade was so god damn fat, where the Tragically Hip are playing next week, or simply what diseases you can get from sucking moose cock, we’re there for them, plain and simple.”
Despite the survey findings, About.com has the support of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, as according to him, “About.com was the only search engine that ever listed me above the principal from ‘Boston Public’ named ‘Steven Harper’ [played by Chi McBride]. They’re not even spelled the same, damn it.”
